Iron Ore Market in Brief: higher prices with the seaborne trading activities jump
Activity in the seaborne iron ore market picked up on Tuesday September 10 and prices continued to rise.
Commodity | Price | Difference / MT |
MB 62% FE IRON ORE FINES INDEX | USD 93.22 per ton CFR Qingdao | +0.25 USD |
MB 62% FE PILBARA BLEND FINES INDEX | USD 93.61 per ton CFR Qingdao | +0.25 USD |
MB 62% FE IRON ORE INDEX-LOW ALUMINA | USD 91.03 per ton CFR Qingdao | +0.73 USD |
MB 58% FE PREMIUM INDEX | USD 80.18 per ton CFR Qingdao | -0.29 USD |
MB 65% FE IRON ORE INDEX | USD 99.50 per ton CFR Qingdao | +0.60 USD |
MB 62% FE CHINA PORT PRICE INDEX | 754 Yuan per wet metric ton | +7 Yuan |
MARKET DRIVERS
China’s rebar and hot-rolled coil futures corrected down on Tuesday after big gains on Monday, while the benchmark iron ore contract managed to recover losses before the 3 pm close. Spot iron ore prices at Chinese ports firmed up, especially after the futures close, according to sources.
Trading in the seaborne market also turned up after 4pm, with at least eight deals concluded on platforms or via miner tenders as of 6.15pm. Low-alumina brands took center stage on Tuesday, with two cargoes of Iron Ore Carajas and two of Brazilian Blend fines trading at higher fixed prices, along with one index-linked shipment of Yandi fines, which was booked at a narrower discount than the preceding deal.
Market participants said this was probably due to improved liquidity on those materials at Chinese ports and more robust prices. The value-in-use (VIU) rate for low-alumina iron ore might be
bottoming out after narrowing to “a very low level”, a trader in Beijing said.
Alumina VIU adjustment narrowed to -USD1.03 per MT based on market activity in the week to September 6, its narrowest since late 2016. Separately, China imported 94.85 million MT of iron ore in August, up 6.1% on the year and 4.2% higher than in July, according
to preliminary Chinese customs data. Volumes totaled 684.85 million MT in the first eight months of 2019, down 3.5% compared with the same period of 2018.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Chinese steelmaker restocking demand for the Mid-Autumn Festival break this Friday-Sunday and the week-long National Day holiday could be supporting iron ore trading activity, at least at
ports,” a trader in Singapore said.
PORT PRICES
Pilbara Blend fines were traded around 737-760 Yuan per MT in Tangshan city and Shandong province on Tuesday, compared with 725-755 Yuan per MT a day earlier. The latest range was equivalent to USD96.50-99.70 per MT CFR China in the seaborne market.
Report By: Javad Najafi
